March 24, 2002 (idea)

It's the sunday after the Academic Bowl state tournament. Should have won triple a, blew it on several counts. Here are the highlights from my experience.

Round 1 - Druid Hills Vs. Dodge County
Dodge county wasn't prepared to answer questions of an academic nature. Purely a pop culture question team they never really stood a shot. They needed to change their focus for a tournament like this.

(Druid Hills 250 Dodge County 40)

Round 2 - Druid Hills Vs. Westminster
For some reason, quiz bowl always raises class warfare to a whole new level, at least we were nice about it. Apparently it costs $15,000 a year there now. But we almost beat the smart rich kids. Lost on several counts, probably shouldn't have lost that one, but thats why they play the game. Westminster was missing a fourth player and actually had no substitute. Basically DHHS threw the match away and lost 170 to 180. None of the Westminster kids had any idea what to do with two bonuses which were basically simple math questions which I learned in a 9 week remedial economics class, as fate would have it I wasn't in, but if I was we would have lost the points somewhere else. It's very preturbing when you play a team like Westminster and the guy with the 1600 SAT says that the guy missing is the team.

Although we had no idea at the time, a very good team. We ran away with it early but they made it close late, comming within a few questions. It was about 190 to 170 or so. I don't think I was in for this round and it was a good thing.

Central Macon won the tournament and went undefeated throughout. I think I wield the burden for losing this round. They had one player (whos name I forget at present) who I should have beat on 3 critical questions, with the easy bonuses in the round that would have given us the win. The answers involved payote, which I cannot spell, an X-Files question about Scully's dog (hey it's also a Herman Melville question.

Vs. Luvitt or however the hell its spelled.

The match didn't happen and we lost by default because the tournament organisers decided that they didn't need a schedule as we went to lunch and came back to find them on question 20. Had we been able to beat them we would have come in 2nd, but we came in 5th because of this ridiculious loss. Apparently there is a rule that very few teams knew about which stated that players may not leave the tournament once it begins. Central Macon got lucky this round because they had a bye, which pretty much ended things for everyone else.

Awards ceremony: Didn't win the buzzer system prise drawing. Somehow won the sportsman ship award, most likely because we were the only team that was easily memorable. My efforts as team mascot paid off, and also people were impressed that we didn't just up and leave after the Luvitt nonsense. I look at it more as a prize for comedy. Having the impluse to compliment just about every reader who could read the questions (after having to spend 3 damn rounds with a reader who could barely read) probably cinched the AAA sportsmanship award for us. Genny won a AAA player of the year award, since she is, as the team from westminster would say, "our team".

Overall tournament review:

The tournament had great questions. There were more readers who were good than bad, unfortunately we drew one woman who COULD NOT READ for 4 different rounds and almost had to deal with her during a bye. The tournament didn't have a lunch when it was suppose to, didn't have a schedule. Ultimately it was a very poorly organised tournament that could have been a lot better. They shouldn't have accepted readers who, you know, couldn't read, and they should have had an actual schedule and used it. They needed to have extra sets of questions for contingency but they did not. Ultimately it was a below average, poorly organised tournament that still managed to be fun as long as you didn't take the flawed standings and ratings seriously.

It isn't like they are registering to vote or anything. Make em' take a literacy test!